Bottom line, I don't think we have the mental toughness to close out games against tough teams. Several of these goals were of the embarrassing variety (bad back pass, goalie came out, etc.)

We have 3 one goal wins - all three were overmatched opponents. Generally, if we win, we win going away with a blow-out. Had four games against teams above us in the table with the lead where we gave up the tying goal - twice in several of those games. 7 of 9 wins were with a clean-sheet - but all 7 of these opponents are currently 12 or lower on the table.

In fact, there was one surprise to me - in my mind there were more games where we gave up a post '80 goal to lose or tie.

I think our youth has something to do with this - maybe we don't maintain possession as well and get tight. We seem to play a lot more long ball in some of those games with the lead, which puts pressure on our defense.

I don't think Reina, Skyrtel, our #9 posing as a LB or Johnson are CL level players defensively (Johnson is good defensively and pretty close, just not good enough - his value is on offense). I had hoped Johnson and Skyrtel would become top defenders and that Reina would remain so. Agger is our best defender, but still has some focus issues when marking and every once in awhile has some coordination issues.

Hoping the summer provides some answers - especially at GK and LB.

The good news - our schedule is loaded with teams we should do well against the rest of the way - but for every 5-2 victory over lower teams this season, there are some 3-1 losses too. I expect the same issues the rest of the way. World beaters one week, WTF just happened the next.

re: Liverpool FC 2012/13 Season Long Thread (Posted on 2/4/13 at 11:11 pm to Tigerstark)

Hate to reply to myself but had the edit function even more.

Probably a bit harsher on the defenders than I really feel - just disappointed in johnson and skyrtel this year. Really thought both would be world class a couple of years ago. Mabe the possession system isn't a good fit for our CBs and they are expending extra effort on that, putting them in bad position on defense and transition.

Johnson is plenty good enough as an outside back for almost every team. Just thought he would become top 2-3 in the world.

re: Liverpool FC 2012/13 Season Long Thread (Posted on 2/4/13 at 11:44 pm to Tigerstark)

Johnson is world class. There is no question about that. When in possession we morph into a 3-4-3 with Johnson playing a wing back. This is where our problem is.

Skrtel simply is not good enough to play in a 3-defensive-man scheme. Even though it's only momentarily, this is often where we are exploited. Agger has to do his job and cover for Skrtel in the case where he (or Carragher) don't fulfill their duty. Think Lukaku vs Carragher or Shane Long vs Skrtel. Both of those plays (one resulting in a red card) perfectly display our inability to defend with 3 at the back (somehow, neither play resulted in a goal) when either Skrtel or Carragher are isolated in one-on-one situations. Neither have the pace or positional awareness to win those battles like Agger has.

Furthermore, our defending on set pieces is simply atrocious and I have to think that has just been neglected in training because Rodgers is focusing on the system as much as he can.

Both of these (IMO) can be attributed to being in a possession-based system for the first time. It's a stark contrast to the way the defense and marking on set pieces were done last season. I have to imagine that we can only get better in these regards.

Regarding not finishing matches - it is completely expected. Obviously we would all prefer it not to happen, but the reality is we have an extremely young squad who have not developed a killer instinct yet. They don't yet know how to kick it into overdrive and grind out a close victory in a consistent manner. Winning is not an inherent trait. It is something that few individuals naturally have. For the rest of professional athletes, it is something you learn how to do through years of experience.

I do wish we had more natural winners. Mascherano, Carragher in his prime, Gerrard, Suarez, Kuyt. They would do anything, LITERALLY anything, it took to get 3 points. They would destroy their bodies for 90 straight minutes and lay everything they had on the line because losing is simply not an option.

re: Liverpool FC 2012/13 Season Long Thread (Posted on 2/5/13 at 12:07 pm to TFTC)

We bought the lad from Netherlands, Suarez, Suarez! He'll bite you on the neck again, Suarez, Suarez! He plays in goal, he plays up front,He's better than that Torres cunt, Luuuuiiiis Suarez, Liverpool's number 7!